The weapons are drawn, the battle lines marked, the trenches dug and the ammunition loaded. Here and there (but not everywhere) the Adventist church is experiencing the first skirmishes of a war over worship.

Such battles are always painful, and they result in casualties. The engagements we fought in the early 1980s, which have settled back now to guerrilla warfare, have taught us that. But as tragic as the casualties are, the church can in fact come out of theological battles stronger and on a more solid Scriptural footing. Challenges force us to examine anew our teachings and practices, to see if their foundation is as firm as we assumed.

Today the issue is worship, and specifically the kind of worship dubbed "Celebration." In general, it is characterized by an upbeat, joyful spirit, contemporary music, congregational involvement and participation, and innovative forms of expression, such as drama and mime. Theologically, its themes are often expressed threefold—love, forgiveness, and acceptance.

Whatever we may conclude about the various features of celebration worship, we must realize two important facts. First, many (and perhaps most) of the people involved in celebration worship are sincerely interested in doing right and in being right with God. They feel that their spiritual hunger was not satisfied in the services they attended before. Now they are enthusiastic about their experience with the Lord and are much in earnest about their relationship with Him. Second, not all celebration churches are the same. The movement is not monolithic. If there are abuses in one church, we are not free to tar all others with the same brush.

But the central issue is how we shape our theology. Our humanness constantly urges us to construct our theology on the basis of our experience. If it feels right, if it makes sense, if it appeals either to our desires or our fears, we tend to think it is genuine and valid. Yet this is how virtually every pagan religion got its foothold. Experience is not the measure by which to test the terms of our relationship to God. That is the role and function of revelation from God.

So it is to that revelation that we want to turn. We will draw largely from the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. White. Theology should shape our experience rather than experience define our theology. That is the direction from which we approach this worship issue. Except for a few references to specific situations, our aim is to address principles that will help in evaluating the issues of worship that we face together as a church.

Looking to Jesus, let us respect and love one another and see how close we may draw together in union with Him, with our worship and living based solidly on His word.

In This Issue

Our keynote article, "Baby Boomers and Moral Leadership," is a revision of a worship talk C. Mervyn Maxwell gave to the workers at a union conference office earlier this year. In his engaging style, it touches on many of the questions people have about the new worship emphasis today.

In "Preach the Word!" Carlyle B. Haynes, a powerful Adventist evangelist and church leader of an earlier generation, contrasts the efforts of two preachers he went to hear, who differed widely in the conduct of their meetings. Read his description and decide for yourself which one you would rather hear.

"Searching for Genuine Adventist Worship" is C. Raymond Holmes's invitation to us to think Biblically about what worship ought to mean to Christians and especially to Seventh-day Adventists.

Gerhard F. Hasel has contributed "The 'Third Wave' Roots of Celebrationism," which traces the development of the charismatic movement outside the Adventist church and establishes points of contact with our present situation. Dr. Hasel has studied the charismatic movement extensively for years and has just published a major book, Speaking in Tongues: Biblical Speaking in Tongues and Contemporary Glossolalia.

"Music in Worship: Are We Really Worshiping Him?" comes from Jeffrey K. Lauritzen, a music teacher from Collegedale, Tennessee. His challenging article makes a significant addition to our discussion of the music topic, begun two issues ago.

Finally, Laurel Damsteegt helps us consider how we handle personal relationships in the midst of theological conflict, in her "Unity: Future? Now? How?"

Much more could be said. In fact, we have no room in this issue for two articles we asked for! We hope to run them next time.